* Bomb kills top Hezbollah leader Lebanese group Hezbollah says one of its top leaders, Imad Mughniyeh, has died in a bombing in Damascus, and has blamed Israel for assassinating him.

* ‘J’lem talks on and under table’ Hatem Abdel Qader, the Jerusalem affairs adviser to Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salaam Fayad, confirmed Tuesday that Jerusalem is one of the issues currently being discussed by Israeli and PA negotiators.

* Livni shows foreign diplomats realities of Qassam fire Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni toured Sderot and the Gaza vicinity communities Wednesday, along with 70 foreign diplomats.

* Gulf states seek Israeli ‘umbrella’ Persian Gulf nations believe Israel will strike at Iran’s nuclear facilities rather than allow Teheran to develop nuclear weapons capabilities.

* Kosovo independence ‘within days’ The province of Kosovo plans to declare its independence from Serbia within days.

* Olmert: Shas won’t quit coalition Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Wednesday that he did not believe Shas would quit the coalition over reports that Jerusalem was already on the table in talks with the Palestinians.

* Major Danish newspapers republish Muhammad cartoon Denmark’s five major daily newspapers republished on Wednesday one of the 12 drawings of the Prophet Muhammad which angered Muslims around the world.

* Africa war zones’ ‘rape epidemic’ Sexual violence is spreading in African conflict zones like an epidemic, the United Nations has warned.

* Israel denies involvement in Mughniyeh assassination In a first official Israeli reaction to the killing of Hizbullah’s terror chief Imad Mughniyeh, the Prime Minister’s Office on Wednesday rejected Hizbullah’s claims that Israel had assassinated the arch-terrorist.

* Sarkozy pleads for ‘coherent’ EU space policy French President Nicolas Sarkozy has added planet Mars to the already long ‘to-do’ list.

* Olmert: Germany backs IDF operation to stem rocket fire “Germany understands that Israel reserves the right to respond to terror attacks,” Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Tuesday.

* IDF Ready for Large Operation in Gaza, Waiting for the Order The army is ready for a large-scale counter-terrorist operation in Gaza, but is waiting for the government to give the go-ahead.

* Iran plans to launch two more rockets into space Iran is to launch two more rockets into space in the next few months, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced.

* Pakistan nuclear staff go missing Two employees of Pakistan’s atomic energy agency have been abducted in the country’s restive north-western region abutting the Afghan border, police say.

* Navy Intercepts Russian Bombers U.S. fighter planes intercepted two Russian bombers, including one that buzzed an American aircraft carrier in the western Pacific during the weekend.

* Israel plans new settlement homes Israeli housing minister Zeev Boim says tenders will soon be issued for construction of more than 1,000 new homes for Jews in East Jerusalem.

* PA TV Bunny Rabbit Threatens to ‘Eat the Jews’ The latest TV character created to incite Palestinian Authority children to anti-Semitism, Islamic triumphalism and violence has debuted on a popular show produced by Hamas.

* Hoenlein says ‘concerned’ by atmosphere surrounding Obama campaign The head of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, Malcolm Hoenlein, expressed concern Tuesday.

* EU warned against turning Kosovo into a ‘protectorate’ A well-known Balkans analyst has warned the 27-nation bloc against turning the province into an EU “protectorate”, whose self-governing powers would be almost non-existent.

* Krakow church holds service against ‘k-kes who spit on us’ This was not a program, but it was close. Sunday’s incident in Krakow at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus was rife with overtones of hatred.

* Ahmadinejad: We’ll never give up nuclear program Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad vowed Monday that Iran would never give into Western pressure to give up its disputed nuclear program.

* ‘IDF ready for large-scale Gaza op’ The IDF is prepared for a number of possible responses to the continued barrage of Kassam rockets on the western Negev, including a large-scale ground operation in the Gaza Strip.

* PA official reports progress over Jerusalem in secret talks A senior PA official in Ramallah told the Jerusalem Post on Saturday that the Palestinian negotiating team headed by former PA prime minister Ahmed Qurei had been holding secret talks with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and other government officials in the past few weeks.

* Blair: Arab view of deal close to Israel’s The Arab world truly wants the Israeli-Palestinian conflict resolved urgently, and many Arab leaders back terms for a permanent accord “very close to what Israel is wanting,” Quartet peace envoy Tony Blair told The Jerusalem Post over the weekend.

* Hamas warns of new border breach Palestinians will breach the border between Egypt and the Gaza Strip again if the blockade of the coastal territory continues, a senior Hamas member warned Monday, defying an Egyptian threat to “break the legs” of anyone who violates the frontier.

* Attorney-General: Let same-sex couples adopt In a landmark decision, Attorney-General Menahem Mazuz on Sunday handed down a legal opinion that homosexual couples may adopt children in Israel “in the proper circumstances and when it is in the best interest of the child.”

* Ramon: Agreement of principles, not full peace deal, likely in 2008 Vice Premier Haim Ramon on Monday appeared to scale back expectations for reaching a peace deal with the Palestinians this year, saying instead that Israel hoped the two sides would reach a declaration of principles and not necessarily a final agreement.

* Olmert’s career barely surviving Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s political career has managed, by the skin of its teeth, to survive the recent Winograd Report, which lambasted the Israeli government and the Israeli military’s handling of the second Lebanon War in 2006.

* Ritual of Dealing With Demons Undergoes a Revival This wind-swept village is bracing for an invasion of demons, thanks to a priest who believes he can defeat Satan.

* Palestinians grow by a million in decade The Palestinian population in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem has reached 3.76 million, up from 2.89 million a decade ago, according to census results released Saturday.

* Turkey eases ban on headscarves Turkey’s parliament has approved two constitutional amendments easing the ban on women wearing Islamic headscarves in universities.

* Egypt boosts troops on border Egypt boosted troop security along the volatile border with Gaza on Friday.

* Sudan agreement over Darfur force UN-led peacekeepers in Darfur are to be allowed full unrestricted movement in a deal agreed with Sudan’s government.

* PA official: Peace talks at a standstill “Final status talks between the Israeli and Palestinian negotiating teams have reached a severe standstill, due to Israeli stubbornness,”.

* French parliament backs EU treaty France’s parliament has voted to adopt the EU reform treaty, three years after a French No dealt a fatal blow to the European Constitution.

* Putin accuses West of starting new arms race Russian President Vladimir Putin lambasted the West for its military expansion toward Russia’s borders and laid out an ambitious agenda for his successor to restore the country’s economic.

* Archbishop ‘must quit’ in Sharia row The head of the Anglican Church has tried to damp down controversy surrounding comments he made suggesting that some aspects of Muslim Sharia law could become part of British law.

* UN warns of ‘full war’ in Darfur Senior UN officials have said that the situation in Sudan’s western Darfur region has sharply deteriorated.

* Creationists seek foothold in Europe After the Sunday service in Westminster Chapel, where worshippers were exhorted to wage “the culture war” in the World War II spirit of Sir Winston Churchill, cabbie James McLean delivered his verdict on Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution.

* Iran helps Syria develop missile that can target Israel better Syria has successfully developed a new surface-to-surface missile that would enable it to target Israeli installations such as airports, ports and factories with greater accuracy.

* Iranian diplomat says Tehran building second atomic power plant Iran has started building a second atomic power plant in an oil-rich region near the border with Iraq.

* Putin vows ‘arms race’ response Russia’s President Vladimir Putin says the world is engaged in a new arms race and Nato is failing to accommodate Russia’s concerns.

* Fayad: No peace agreement by end of ’08 Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salaam Fayad predicts that a final peace agreement will not be signed by the end of 2008.

* French parliament backs EU treaty France’s parliament has voted to adopt the EU reform treaty, three years after a French No dealt a fatal blow to the European Constitution.

* ‘1,000,000 dollars to bring down Olmert’ Unidentified Right-wing figures in the US and Israel are willing to pay big money to anyone who comes up with evidence against Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

* UK PM rejects special laws for Muslims he UK’s leading Christian leader has drawn fierce government criticism after he suggested that Islamic — or Sharia — law be used to resolve financial and domestic issues between UK Muslims.

* Shas preparing for elections it expects will be held this year Shas chairman Eli Yishai has begun preparing his party for elections, believing they may be held before the end of the year.

* Iran Qods Force infiltrates Iraq New information was brought to light Thursday revealing “an overwhelming amount of intelligence indicating a political-military buildup by Tehran’s mullahs.

* OSCE cancels election observation mission to Russia The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) on Thursday announced it would abandon a planned monitoring mission.

* ‘Anyone who violates our borders will get his legs broken’ Egypt’s foreign minister said that no further violations of its borders would be tolerated in the wake of a 12-day breach on its frontier with Gaza.

* West warned over Afghan failure Nato Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer has said the failure of Nato’s mission in Afghanistan could result in terror attacks in Western countries.

* Hamas source: Extremists poured into Gaza Thousands of Arab men have flocked into the Gaza Strip from Egypt in the past two weeks.

* Nato ‘at risk over Afghanistan’ US Defence Secretary Robert Gates has warned the future of Nato is at risk due to differences over Afghanistan and that it may become a two-tier alliance.

* Barak: IDF ops to grow even stronger If Palestinians continue to fire Kassam rockets into Israel, they will suffer the consequences of IDF operations of increasing strength.

* World ‘divided on globalization’ A BBC World Service survey of 34,000 people has found sharp divergences in attitudes to the pace of globalization.

* EU envoy warns Gaza could become the next Somalia Israel’s policies in the Gaza Strip are likely to turn the territory into Somalia.

* ‘Al-Qaeda boys’ in training video US and Iraqi forces have issued video footage which they say shows children under the age of 11 being armed and trained by al-Qaeda.

* Russia attacks ‘illegal’ EU mission to Kosovo Russia has warned the head of the United Nations against approving the EU’s plans to launch a police and civilian mission to Serbia’s breakaway province of Kosovo this month.

* UN presses Kenyan rivals for end to crisis Kenya’s political rivals pushed ahead with crisis talks on Thursday amid new deaths and increased UN Security Council pressure to end weeks of bloodshed.

By: – BBC News

A new Iraqi flag – purged of references to the executed former leader Saddam Hussein – has been hoisted over government buildings in Baghdad.

Three stars representing the former ruling Baath party have been removed. Script said to be in Saddam Hussein’s handwriting was amended in 2004.

The changes were sought by Iraqi Kurds victimised under the former regime, and approved by parliament last month.

But some Iraqis have displayed the old flag in silent protest, reports say.

‘Past wiped clean’

The flag was hoisted over the Iraqi cabinet building, inside the heavily fortified Green Zone in central Baghdad, by Iraq’s Prime Minister Nouri Maliki.

Mr Maliki said the new flag would “wipe clean the past of crimes and human rights violations committed under the previous flag”, AFP news agency reported.

The new flag retains the three colours of the old one – red, white and black. But the stars that represented the ideology of the Baath party – unity, freedom and socialism – have been removed.

In 2004, a line of Arabic script reading “Allahu Akbar”, or “God is great”, supposedly written in Saddam Hussein’s writing, was changed to a different calligraphy.

Protests

The latest change came at the behest of Kurds – but not all Iraqis are impressed with the change.

“This is a disaster … I am using the old flag in my office and at home,” Falluja Mayor Rasheed told Reuters last month.

The news agency reported ordinary Iraqis – who say the flag has little to do with Saddam Hussein – had attached the old flag to their cars in protest.

Nevertheless, the change is only temporary, as a design for a new flag will be sought after one year.

The Kurds are demanding that yellow should be added to the new flag.

In 2004, Iraq’s then US-appointed governing council tried to introduce an entirely new blue, white and yellow flag, but it was withdrawn after protests including the objection that it too closely resembled the flag of Israel.

By: Patrick Wintour – Guardian News and Media Limited

Tony Blair has been holding discussions with some of his oldest allies on how he could mount a campaign later this year to become full-time president of the EU council, the prestigious new job characterised as “president of Europe”. Blair, currently the Middle East envoy for the US, Russia, EU and the UN, has told friends he has made no final decision, but is increasingly willing to put himself forward for the job if it comes with real powers to intervene in defence and trade affairs.

Blair, who is being actively promoted by the French president Nicolas Sarkozy, recognises he would need to abandon his well-paid, private sector jobs if he won. His wife Cherie – often portrayed as seeking ever more wealth and well-paid consultancies for her husband – is understood to be supportive of him accepting the job.

Some Blair allies also say that he now recognises that as envoy in the Middle East he is not going to be allowed to become the key player in furthering Israeli-Palestinian talks this year, and will be reduced to a role of supporting political development in Palestine and boosting its economy.

The president of the European council of ministers is a post created under the Lisbon treaty. The president will be the permanent chair of the council of ministers, Europe’s chief decision-making body.

Jonathan Powell, Blair’s Downing Street chief of staff, is among the former lieutenants he has met to discuss a bid for the European role.

Some senior figures believe he could yet be a loser in the carve-up of four big European jobs due to be distributed at the end of the French presidency in the second half of this year. Some claim that if the commission president, José Manuel Barroso, wanted to remain in post for a second term, it would be difficult for Blair, a political ally and previous advocate for Barroso, to hold the parallel, prestigious European council job.

Decisions also have to be made on the appointment of a new, “high representative” on foreign policy, and the post of president of the European parliament. Smaller EU countries are sensitive about key jobs being taken by leading figures from larger countries, especially from one that is not part of the eurozone or the Schengen free-movement area, and that actively supports Turkish membership, as Britain has. Some French socialists have already come out against Blair, citing his role in the war in Iraq. Former French president Valéry Giscard D’Estaing has also expressed his opposition.

It is thought that the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, is not persuaded of the advantages of a Blair presidency. The Christian Democrats have recently been politically weakened in state elections, and fear a Blair presidency might strengthen the German Social Democrats. Neither the Germans nor the French would push Blair if they believed his appointment was going to be opposed by Gordon Brown.

Blair himself is still doubtful that the role of council president will become a powerful job, saying he senses that even pro-Europeans might recoil from ceding power from the nation state.

With most countries currently focused on ratifying the Lisbon treaty through their national parliaments, decisions on the powers of the full-time president are unlikely to be made until the second half of the year.

Apart from Blair, two other candidates most often mentioned are the former Austrian chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel, promoted by Germany, and the current Luxembourg prime minister, Jean-Claude Juncker.

By: Ezra HaLevi – Arutz Sheva

The Ethiopian Jewish holiday of Sigd will soon become a national holiday. Preliminary legislation submitted by MK Uri Ariel (National Union) was approved Wednesday.

The proposal was supported by MKs from National Union, NRP, Shas and Likud, as well as Labor and Meretz.

The ramifications of adopting Sigd as a national holiday would be that the Education Ministry would teach about it in schools and employees would be given the option to take the day off, such as is currently the practice for days like Jerusalem Day and the holiday of Purim. The Prime Minister’s Office would also be assigned the responsibility of funding the yearly Sigt festivities in Jerusalem.

Sigd takes place on the 29th of the Hebrew month of Cheshvan, exactly fifty days after Yom Kippur. The holiday is pronounced Sigd (one syllable), which means prostration in Amharic and shares its root with the word for temple. The ceremony resembles the one held for the renewal of the Divine covenant by Ezra the Scribe during the Second Commonwealth, described in the Book of Nechemia. “All the people gathered themselves together as one man into the broad place that was before the water gate; and they spoke unto Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the Law of Moses, which the LORD had commanded to Israel” (Nehemiah 8:1)

Prior to their immigration to Israel, the Beta Israel (meaning ‘House of Israel’) or Falasha (meaning ‘strangers,’ a term used by their non-Jewish neighbors in Africa) community would observe Sigd each year on mountaintops outside their villages. The Kessim, the community’s rabbis and ritual leaders, would ascend the mountain, which was meant to represent Mount Sinai.

Upon the Aliyah (immigration to Israel) of Ethiopia’s Jews, the holiday has become both a celebration of returning to Zion and a longing for the rebuilding of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. Ethiopian Jews gather from all across Israel at the Armon HaNetziv Promenade, overlooking the Temple Mount.

MK Ariel says he submitted the bill to share the beauty of the holiday with all of Israel, as well as to give the Ethiopian Jewish community the recognition it deserves. “The Ethiopian community has preserved customs dating back to the days of the Holy Temple and even Biblical times,” the bill states. “The acceptance of this holiday by the Knesset and the State of Israel will allow for the revival of an age-old tradition and the strengthening of the Ethiopian community’s identification with and involvement in the Israeli community at large.”

The bill will next be voted upon by the Knesset’s Labor and Welfare Committee.